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The Kingsway

The neighbourhood is characterized by the large, Tudor and other English-style houses designed by Home Smith’s company early in the last century, and set on quiet, family-friendly streets. The elegant homes along The Kingsway itself are set back from the street on large lots, showcasing their impressive brick and stone facades to passers-by. In recent years, many homes have been restored and renovated, while others have been replaced by new, even larger, residences. Properties along the east side of Kingsway Crescent slope down to the Humber River, providing homeowners there with the feeling of living in the country.

This fine Etobicoke neighbourhood has been home to wealthy Torontonians since the 1920s, and still retains the air of an old English enclave, thanks to Robert Home Smith, whose company planned the neighbourhood to be “a little bit of England far from England”. Many families move here for the excellent Lambton-Kingsway Junior Middle School, and for the proximity to shopping, businesses and public transit, including the Bloor Street subway line.

The quiet stateliness of The Kingsway’s residential streets gives way to a lively retail scene along the section of Bloor Street West between Prince Edward Drive and Montgomery Road, where residents can find shops and restaurants of all kinds, as well as every service they require for day-to-day living. For one weekend every September, this stretch of Bloor is closed to vehicular traffic for the hugely popular street festival, known as Taste of the Kingsway, offering live entertainment, midway rides and other activities for children, a classic car show, a dog show and, of course, a variety of culinary offerings. Subway access along the Bloor line is a huge draw.

With material from Your Guide to Toronto Neighbourhoods, by David Dunkelman